Juniperus foetidissima is a medium-sized tree reaching 6–25 metres (20–82 feet) tall, with a trunk up to 2.5 m (8 ft) in diameter.

The cones are berry-like, 7–13 mm in diameter, blue-black with a whitish waxy bloom, and contain 1–2 (rarely 3) seeds; they are mature in about 18 months.

The male cones are 2–3.5 mm long, and shed their pollen in early spring.

The tree is native to southeastern Europe and Western Asia, from southern Albania and northern Greece, southern North Macedonia, across Turkey to Syria and the Lebanon, the Caucasus mountains, the Alborz mountains of northern Iran, and east to southwestern Turkmenistan.

A number of notably large specimens are specially protected in Turkey; the largest is the Aslanardıçı ("Lion Juniper"), 25 m (82 ft) tall and 3.38 m (11 ft) in trunk diameter, estimated to be 1,700 years old.